Pep Guardiola named the three best teams in Europe right now after watching his Manchester City side defeat Arsenal in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
City denied Arsenal the chance to win a first trophy since 2020 with an impressive 2-0 victory in north London. A mistake from back-up goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga allowed Nico O’Reilly to break the deadlock on the hour mark.
The Manchester-born England international then doubled his - and City’s - tally four minutes later, heading home a cross from Matheus Nunes.
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Manchester City ended Arsenal’s quadruple hopes as they lifted the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 victory at Wembley.
The victory was no less than City deserved. Guardiola’s side might find themselves nine points behind Arsenal in the Premier League table, but they were the superior side in the first of this season’s cup finals.
“Not even me gave one pound to the victory today,” an ecstatic Guardiola told reporters after the match, per The Guardian. “We could not win against Nottingham Forest home or West Ham away [in the Premier League], we lost 5-1 aggregate against Madrid [in the Champions League last 16]. But the players prove again – the old ones and especially the new ones – that when required to do something during a season in which we have not been consistent, today we achieved it.
“Especially without the ball and with the ball in the second half, was unbelievably good. I could not believe how unbelievably good we had done in the second half.”
Guardiola Names Europe's Three Best Teams Right Now
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
During his post-match media duties, Guardiola also named the three teams he believes are currently the best in Europe.
Per CBS Sports football correspondent James Benge, Guardiola described Arsenal as the best team in Europe alongside two of his former clubs: Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
All three of the teams Guardiola mentioned secured their places in the Champions League quarter-finals last week.
Arsenal advanced to the final eight with a 3-1 aggregate win over German outfit Bayer Leverkusen; Bayern Munich hammered Atalanta 10-2 over two legs, while Barcelona secured an emphatic 8-3 aggregate win over Newcastle United after winning the second leg 7-2 at Camp Nou.
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Guardiola failed to mention the reigning European champions, Paris Saint-Germain, who thumped Chelsea 8-2 over two legs in the Round of 16. And there was surprisingly no mention for Real Madrid, who defeated Guardiola’s Man City 5-1 on aggregate.
However, the result of the second leg may have been different had Bernardo Silva not been sent off early at the Etihad Stadium.
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Guardiola and his players will now have their sights set on chasing down Arsenal in the Premier League. While Mikel Arteta’s Gunners remain the strong favourites, Sunday’s result at Wembley promises to make the title race a little more interesting after the international break.